ARCA Racing Series Presented by Menards veteran Grant Enfinger battled fuel mileage and a hard charging Austin Cindric to win at Pocono in his driving debut for Bret Holmes Racing in the #AnyWhereIsPossible200 on Friday.
Enfinger, who has been crew-chiefing Holmes No.23 Holmes II Excavation/Southern States Bank Chevrolet during his first two ARCA races of the year spent the entire week with the young driver explaining what it takes to win at the ‘Tricky Triangle.’ Holmes spent time in the car on Tuesday; turning laps during a test session that gave him a deeper understanding of what it will take to do well at intermediate tracks in the future
“I really learned a lot from Grant (Enfinger) this week at Pocono,” Said Holmes. “I got time in the car on Tuesday and quickly became comfortable with the track. Then for Grant to go out there and win the race for our team speaks volumes to what this team can do in the near future. I am really proud of how hard our team worked this week as a whole. We will have more weeks like this in the future, I promise you.”
The 80-lap race was destined to be another Pocono fuel mileage classic as teams across the board were trying different fuel strategies to make it to the end. In the end it was BHR who made the right call as Enfinger saved enough fuel in the last 20-laps to make up the four-lap deficit it lacked in Sunoco racing fuel.
“We were losing fuel pressure with 20 to go,” Enfinger said. “It never hiccupped but we had already made our bed. We pushed ourselves into a fuel mileage situation, so we took advantage of it.”
Fuel was not the only situation that could have barred Enfinger from victory lane. Rookie Austin Cindric was coming up fast as the laps wound down and got as close as Enfinger’s bumper on the last lap, but it proved to be too little too late.
“We were conserving fuel over the last 20 laps,” Enfinger said. “Obviously when he (Cindric) showed up about 10 lengths behind with three to go, we had to give it all we had. We were prepared to make it very difficult to pass us coming to the line, if need be.”
With this win the new era of the “Alabama Gang” adds another notch in its belt as the team heads home and gets ready for their next adventure in the ARCA racing Series Presented by Menards.
Enfinger will return to his perch on the pit-box on July 22 when BHR travels to Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis, Indiana. Bret Holmes will start this race behind the wheel of the No.23, with four more ARCA races scheduled for his rookie season.
“What a day for BHR and everyone who supports us week in and week out,” said Enfinger “It shows that when you have the right people around you, you can do big things. I am looking forward to getting back up on the box and helping Bret develop into the driver we know he can be.”
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